Cinematical

Humm, why would you bring Jet Li and Jackie Chan together in a movie for kids. Humm, let's see, two of the biggest names in chinese cinema, China has a population of 1,306,313,812 (Billion with a B) so there is probably a market for two chinese actors out there somewhere.

Oh, I know. Also the fact that the chinese movie stars are very much more multidimensional than the US movie stars. Jackie Chan sings and dances and has a background in the chinese equivalent of the circus, he stars in lots of comedies and has a cartoon show that plays in the states and probably elsewhere.

Jet Li has a bit more range than your usual action/kung fu star and many of his roles have been more than a quick fight in the circle of death after training hard to avenge his master so probably folks are thinking he can stretch his acting range a bit.

Now whether the international movie audience will accept a movie with Jet Li and Jackie Chan in a non matial arts film is up in the air. Jet Li has found international success with epics like Hero and Jackie Chan has just been churning out the hits for years. In the end it depends on how good of a movie they make. Funny comedies by Stephen Chow have found an audience and I'm thinking of Shaolin Soccer and Kung Fu Hustle. A movie aimed at kids isn't that far of a stretch.

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Why not kids movies? They earn the most money at the box office.

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Jet Li and Jackie Chan in a kids movie? Why even adults like me might want to take their kids? Both are principled actors. Its a natural. Their movies tend to represent values children should learn. On the other hand Robin Williams and/or Jim Carrey in any Kung Fu movie? Now that would be a stretch. Seems that the author of this article probably has not seriously watched either Chan or Li. While both excel in the genre, they do so by moving far beyond the traditional roles even when they make Kung Fu movies. Chan, for example, does more acting with his eyes alone than can be found in a formulaic Bruce Willis movie and his eyebrows provide more acting than a traditional Schwarzenegger movie. Chan has been typecast for years and has succeeded by stretching the art form. Its about time he was permitted to make any damn movie he wanted to try. I am not a fan of Kung Fu, but I'll watch any Chan movie anytime.

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Martial Art films are a kids' stable throughout the world, making stars like Chan and Li more recognizable to that audience than most of the Hollywood rubberface types who normally populate kiddy fare. Couple with the fact that Chan is a student of Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd, and already has his own successful Hollywood comedies and kid flicks under his belt, and it's really down to the question of figuring out how to keep Li from looking amateurish by comparison.

True, teaming these hyperactive performers with the hyperactive visual stylings of Peter Jackson, perhaps in some kind of big-budget pulp fantasy, would be awesome. But Rob Minkoff is not such bad news. Imagine, it could have been Brett Ratner, or David Dobkin.

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